Clio Cast and Crew proudly announces the next show in their 2016 season – The Matchmaker by American playwright icon Thornton Wilder.

This hilarious comedy – billed as a “farce in four acts” is directed by Jon R. Coggins and was the basis for the Musical “Hello Dolly”.

Thornton Wilder (1897-1975), born in Madison, Wisconsin, and educated at Yale and Princeton, was an accomplished novelist and playwright whose works explore the connection between the commonplace and the cosmic dimensions of human experience.

The Matchmaker is a farce in the old-fashioned sense. It uses such time-honored conventions as characters hidden under tables and in closets, men disguised as women, a complex conspiracy to bring young lovers together, and a happy ending in which three couples are united with plans to marry.

The plot includes an irascible, penny-pinching store owner, Horace Vandergelder, who refuses to let his niece marry the poor artist she loves, although he himself plans to remarry. Dolly Levi, the matchmaker of the title, pretends that she is helping Vandergelder find a suitable bride, but she actually schemes to marry him herself, and she works to help the young lovers gain his approval. Vandergelder’s beleaguered clerk, who is longing for excitement, also meets the woman of his dreams, although she happens to be the one Vandergelder intends to marry. Throughout the play we see mistaken identities, scheming females, characters put in unfamiliar situations, cranky barbers and restaurant hosts, exploding tomato cans, disappearing funds, and snuff snorting gentile ladies. It is a wild ride full of fun where in the end; everyone is happy and just a little smarter.

The cast is anchored by longtime local theatre vet Mrs. Sandra Turner. Said Director Coggins, “I knew last year when I was chosen to direct this piece that Sandy was my Dolly!”

A local favorite JR Nunley plays a couple of roles with amusing results. Stage vet Shane Wachowicz plays the recently promoted head clerk Cornelius Hackl whose desire for adventure sends him and his workmate Barnaby, played with wonderful naïveté by Noah Beauchamp, into NY and the matchmaking frenzy. Jennifer Lynn plays the pure of heart Ermengarde who is sent away to NY to keep her from marrying her love Ambrose Kemper, Alex Weiss. Additional cast members include: Mattie Speed as Irene Molloy, Brianna McDonald as Minnie Fay, Kim Norrington as Flora VanHusen and Wayne Tagg as Stack. Also featured are Samantha Beauchamp, Mary Bontumasi-Coggins and Pam Beauchamp. Jon R. Coggins rounds out the cast as the put upon Horace Vandergelder.

The Matchmaker is produced by Cindi Hubbard and Patrick Hubbard and is presented by special arrangement with the Samuel French Company. Love is in the air – IT’S SPRING!! Make plans to come to Clio and see love bloom on stage in The Matchmaker.